Parisi v. Davidson

Summary

The Court held that a servicemember who exhausted military administrative remedies could pursue federal habeas corpus review of a factually baseless denial of conscientious-objector status even while court-martial proceedings were pending. Comity did not require a stay because the military proceedings could provide, at most, a defense to criminal charges and could not reliably or promptly provide the requested discharge. The Court reversed and remanded for expeditious consideration of the habeas petition's merits. Justice Douglas, concurring in the result, would have treated the case primarily as a challenge to military jurisdiction and emphasized the constitutional role of habeas corpus.